New host irrational fear

[Craig760]

Hi. I’m a bit of a worrier when trying something new. 
I have my first booking and they instant booked but have no feedback. 
I have this awful vision of someone turning up in a van and clearing me out, nespresso machine and all. 
This kind of thing doesn’t happen in the waking world, does it? If it does, do I have any protection?

Thanks in advance for any reassurance provided by seasoned hosts. 

[Craig760]

@Mark116 I managed to get hold of them.
They thought they were checking out tomorrow!! Unless I have attracted a guest with terrible calculation skills it seems like an interesting story. 

They originally booked for 5 days then amended to 3. 
They then offered to pay cash for the extra day which I refused and told them to go back on Airbnb and book it. 
I’d forgotten I’d set it to 2 days minimum to cover the weekend trade but they booked the 2 days. 
I wonder if the cash extension is a trick to try and negotiate a cheaper rate outside the platform🤔. 
Anyway, my cleaner will get double for her wasted journey so all good...I think. 

[Helen744]

@Craig760 you could have sent a variation on the booking and added another day and simply asked them to accept it when it came through. H

[Craig760]

@Helen744 can you do that even after the booking shows as checked out?

[Helen744]

@Craig760  No probably not , your guests sound like they didnt think it thru . I had one guest like that and I did feel as if they knew and were just trying it on .H

[Huma0]

@Craig760 

It doesn't happen often, but sometimes guests do get confused about that, because Airbnb shows the bookings as, for example, 24-26 October, with the 26th being the check out date. Occasionally, guests assume the dates are inclusive, i.e. they have the night of the 26th as well.

However, in this case, with the guest messing around with the dates of the booking and then trying to pay you off platform, it sounds more likely that they were trying to find a way to pay less.

I assume the guest has left now?

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

Isn't there, or didn't there used to be, something in Airbnb policy that stated that a guest would be charged something if they checked out late? I am sure I remember reading it some time back.

However, I can't find anything on the Airbnb site when I search for it now, so I'm guessing that's no longer the case.

@Craig760 I have in my house rules that guests may be charged if they check out late without permission.

[Craig760]

Well thanks all, I made it to the end of my first rental. 
I have no permanent lodger or voodoo paraphernalia hanging from the ceiling. 
what I did have was half a slice of toast on the side, a dishwasher full of dirty everything (yes, complimentary tablets were left) and dirty cutlery in the drawer (it was all brand new to start- they were the first to use anything) 

I didn’t expect them to clean the place as they were paying for a clean but I’d hoped they’d at least try to leave it as tidy as they found it or maybe that’s just us when we rent anywhere. 

They also managed to get coffee stains on the newly painted skirting board hmm. 
I suppose the biggest concern was the 100 kWh of electricity they burned through in 5 or if their original claim was correct,  just 4 days! (I’m told the U.K. average is just 8 to 10 a day) Not sure I can do much about it but if it was heating, which is electric, then they also had the windows open most of the time. 

It may have been the medical looking machines that my neighbour noticed through the window. I’d have thought it would have just been a courtesy to mention them. 

[Mark116]

@Craig760  Did you give them any check-out instructions on what to do?  If not, you need to create the list of what you want guests to do at check-out, add it to your house rules, which BTW, you should think about adding some others, and then message them the night before check out to remind them of the time and give them the list.  Do this is the guise of 'thanks for staying, hope you had a great time, here is the short list of things to do for check out at XX.

You could look into a nest type heating control that you can monitor and adjust remotely.

[Craig760]

@Mark116 I didn’t want to overburden guests with things that I see lots of complaints on guest group forums like take the rubbish out, strip the beds etc. 
I suppose I just thought they wouldn’t leave it messy. Not sure how I’d word it without it sounding patronising to those, like me, that wouldn’t dream of leaving it like that. 
Can I put no medical machines without permission in my rules🙄

As to the radiators, they are smart ones that app controlled and have open window detection so maybe it wasn’t that which used all the power. 
I think there may have been a bit of a language barrier too. My Russian is rusty (non existent😂) and I had to copy/paste her name cos I couldn’t type it without a Cyrillic keyboard. 
I suppose I’ll have to wait now to read the review she left me. 

[Mark116]

@Craig760  You will find that expecting guests to have common sense is a frustrating exercise.  Here is what we say, with some variations depending on whether it is trash day or not, or how long they stayed, e.g. if it was only 2 days we tell them to collect trash and recycling in the kitchen and we will get it.

Hi, XX,  We hope you've enjoyed your NYC visit and the apartment. There isn't much to do for check-out tomorrow (11am):

-wash any dishes/pots [you can run the dishwasher or handwash, there is a dish drainer on top of the refrigerator]
-leave used towels on the bathroom door hooks
-leave keys on the coffee table
-collect your recycling in the kitchen and we will get after you leave
-tonight is trash pick up from the city so you can put garbage out in any of the bins on the sidewalk tonight from 7pn-11pm, trash is picked up over night
-if you have any perishable food items you can't take with you, leave them and we will dispose of.

Have a great day and last night in NYC. Let us know if you have any questions.

[Trude0]

@Craig760 : Congratulations on making it to the end of your first rental! Nespresso machine still there? 😉

So I guess we can conclude that your first guests were not great. But not as bad as you feared, and you have some lessons learned. Accept and move on. I'm sure you will have many, many great guests to come, most of them are!

Since cleaning is included in the total amount they pay, I wouldn't let the dirty dishes etc, affect the review you give them. Even if I agree with you, common courtesy would be to run the dishwasher. 

I include cleaning in my rate, and I don't expect the guests to do anything - in fact I explicitly tell them in a message the night before check-out, not to spend any time cleaning. Most of them leave the place very nice and tidy anyway. And if the occasional guest does not, then that's fine too.

Now let's hope they write you a nice review! But if they are new to Airbnb, and you don't have any reviews either, they are probably not familiar with the Airbnb rating system - where anything other than a 5 star overall rating, is a disaster. Meaning there is a risk that they confuse the Airbnb rating system with the star ratings used in hotel. In which case they might very well give you a 4 star overall rating - even if they were perfectly happy with everything. So how to increase your chances of a great first review?

Personally I am not a fan of "begging" for star ratings and nice reviews. But I was lucky, my first couple of reviews were great. And I guess the following guests just didn't want to break the pattern...;-) How about you send them a message. Saying you hope they enjoyed their stay, and thank them for being great guests (even if they were not, quite). Say you will give them a nice review, and you hope they will take the time to also review you/your place. Mention that as you are both new to Airbnb, the first review is of course very important, for both of you. They may not even be aware that they, too, will be rated.